Stick a fork in it

Mince: Chili Edition

This is actually a Heston Blumenthal chili recipe lazily executed by me. I customized it to suit the family. We use grass-fed beef from our farm Grasspunk. I actually don’t even remember the recipe. It goes a little something like this.

Chop some onions.

I finely dice my onions if I’m making this for my son Otto, otherwise he’ll pick each and every onion out griping at me the whole time. Tonight’s chili was for grownups, so I did big fat chunks as quickly as possible.

Then prepare some garlic.

I’m not a garlic basher. I think that’s a sad way to go if you’re a garlic. I like to chop off the top and peel. It falls off similarly to the garlic bash method. Then I thinly slice. One could crush the garlic into the chili. Mr. K will tell me that crushing is the best way. I will say, “no it’s not.” He’ll say, “yes it is.” Me, “no it’s not.” He, “yes it is.” “No it’s not.” “Yes, it is” We were in our late thirties at the time of that conversation.

It’s a matter of preference. For this chili, I like the subtle garlic flavor with the thinly sliced texture.

Duck fat in. Butter nub in.

Ready to gently bubble the onions and garlic into translucent bliss. Onions and Garlic go in the pan you want your chili to end up in.

A star anise is added.

I quadrupled the recipe, so you will see a few stars in there. I think you can over anise, so one is sufficient. Two is too much.

While that works, brown your mince.

Our mince comes in burgers. Two pack is .250 kg. Crack ’em open and put them in your browning fry pan that is full of duck fat. We love our duck fat. Tallow or lard will also be lovely.

They look like this at first.

Then after a bit of a tonging.

Then the duck fat is doing its job.

Then when it’s brown, add the wine.

The Madiran is for the chef. The bucky-fiddy Cahors is for the chili.

Onions look lovely. Time for tomato paste.

Add paste

Mix it all about. Let that make friends until the paste goes “brick red.”

I believe that’s what the original recipe said. Because every time I get to this step I start singing, “she’s a brick [beat beat beat] house. Shake it down. Shake it down. Shake it down now!”

Add beef broth. Do some salt and pep. Then, partially cover and let it be. Let it be chili for some minutes.

Give is a taste. More salt.

Scoop or slop into a bowl. Add some cheddar cheese, some creme fraiche, some more Substance P. Sit down. Enjoy.

This is the recipe I follow:I need to know the quantities of stuff and then the order they go in. The rest I remember. You can also add beans. Beans don’t go well in our family.

For whatever reason or in a quick dash for a piece of paper, on the back of my chili recipe is a recipe for cement. I think that making cement and eating chili are a nice combo. You can also read some French lesson I failed.